Mrs. Bowdich

“ Pass the flour through a sieve on to a board, mix with it the salt and baking powder, and thoroughly rub in the butter. Make a hole in the centre of the paste, pour in the water, stirring it into the paste at the same time with the other hand. When sufficiently moist to adhere in the shape of a ball, roll out to the required thickness. If cooked in a basin the pudding will require to boil for at least three hours; if in a cloth, less time will be found sufficient. ”

“ The thorough-going vegetarian, to whom abstinence from meat is part of his ethical code and his religion,—who would as soon think of taking his neighbour's purse as helping himself to a slice of beef,—is by nature a man of frugal habits and simple tastes. ”

“ But there are others who, while not feeling that any moral principle is immediately involved in the matter of diet, yet would like to be relieved from the necessity of eating flesh, possibly on æsthetic grounds, or it may be from hygienic reasons, or in some cases, I hope, because they would willingly diminish the sufferings involved in the transport and slaughter of animals, inevitable as long as they are used for food. ”

“ Like the potato, however, its very simplicity lays it open to careless treatment, and many who would be the first to appreciate its good qualities if it were placed before them well cooked and served, now recoil from the idea of habitually feeding off what they know only under the guise of a stodgy, insipid, or watery mass. ”

“ Place the butter and stock in a stewpan, and if the stock be not already very highly flavoured, add seasonings, such as a slice of lemon, half a dozen peppercorns, a good teaspoon of curry powder, and a shalot, or if curry powder be not liked, half a teaspoonful of mixed herbs, or half a tablespoonful of Worcester sauce may be substituted. ”

“ Many of them are as nourishing, weight for weight, as ordinary dishes made with meat, those containing beans, peas, eggs, and the various sorts of grain, being the most nourishing. If they are not all found to be palatable, the fault must be in the individual cook, who cannot have put in the important ingredient of feeling, without which no work can be wholly good. ”

“ When they are tender, have ready a colander with a cloth laid in it, lift the sprouts out with an egg slice, and lay them carefully on the cloth to drain, place about a dozen of the best shaped ones on a hot plate or dish, slide the remainder gently off the cloth on to a hot drainer in a vegetable dish, and arrange the reserved ones on the top.
Sprouts are often spoiled in the dishing up, but no vegetable looks and tastes nicer if properly cooked and served.
No. 146.—French Beans. 1 pint tomato juice. 1 shalot. 1 pound cooked French beans. 1⁄2 teaspoon salt. ”

“ To have to live by some of them would almost make a vegetarian turn meat-eater. Most are compilations from other books with the meat dishes left out, and a little porridge and a few beans and peas thrown in. ”

“ Should the oil become burnt, it must of course be thrown away.
Bread Crumbs.
To procure fine bread crumbs, rub stale bread through a wire sieve. For this the hands should be scrupulously clean.
Should the crumbs be required coarse, rubbing the bread on a grater will answer the purpose.
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RECIPES. SOUPS. No. 1.—Artichoke Soup. 3 pounds Jerusalem artichokes after peeling. 2 pints water. 1 pint milk. 2 ounces butter. 2 teaspoons salt. 2 shalots. 2 teaspoons chopped celery. 1 tablespoon sago. 1 dozen peppercorns, with a suspicion of mace and cinnamon tied in muslin. ”